October 25, 2010
By Bob Rapoport, Sales Advisor
For audiophiles, the pursuit of “master-tape” quality has been a long journey, from the earliest days of recorded sound on wire, vinyl, open-reel tape, cassette, CD, DVD, SACD, DTS-Audio Disc, and now Blu-ray. For the first time in the history of recorded music, audiophiles can now listen to one-to-one copies of the original master recordings with no compression on Dolby TruHD and DTS MasterHD multi-channel soundtracks. These new audio codecs allow the highest playback levels ever offered to consumers, giving new meaning to the expression “just like being there”. The music literally jumps out at you, unveiled for the first time in history.
The irony is that Blu-ray is promoted as a video source, not an audio source. Audiophiles in Europe are already buying new classical recordings and operas, digitally recorded with no analog conversion, with sound reproduction that feels just like “being there” because the dynamics are so real. Our sense of hearing is a marvelous thing, stimulating pleasure centers in our brains when we hear loud music, the reason why we go to live musical concerts and events.
Blu-ray is a “protected source”, meaning the only way you can listen to it is via an HDMI connection. HDMI is the digital, high speed bit-stream data transfer system that uses a two way communication between the source and audio system to assure copyright protection. They don’t mind us listening to it in high def, they just want to be sure we cant copy it that way. Its a fair trade off if you ask me.
If you are one of those who hesitated before embracing HDMI, skeptical about the format war with HD-DVD and new formats in general, its time to put away your fears and find audio nirvana, audio has never been this good and its a special treat when you hear it. Blu-ray won the battle and is here to stay for a long time. More and more music titles are appearing everyday, live concerts that sound really live, and new recordings of symphonies by the best orchestras in the world like you’ve never heard them before.
